Melania, the Kids, Barbara Corcoran, and Trump's Page Six World
Book: How to Get Rich
Author: Donald J. Trump (with Meredith McIver)
e-ISBN: 1-58836-410-0
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Trump calls this section “Page Six, My Way.” It is his homemade gossip column. Family updates, friend tributes, and a few targeted digs at people he does not like.
Family first
Ivana is in the south of France, doing well. They speak often, remain neighbors in New York, and co-parent three kids. Trump says they are fortunate and good friends.
Marla lives in Los Angeles. Daughter Tiffany is ten and charms everyone. Trump wishes he saw her more.
Melania Knauss gets the longest praise. Slovenian model, five years together at the time of writing. Beautiful inside and out. Calm where he is turbulent. Trump says she brought stability to his life.
Don Jr. joined the company in 2001, Wharton grad, valuable team member. Ivanka was at Wharton too, already a model and “heartbreaker.” Eric was at Georgetown, six foot six, outdoorsman like his brother.
Trump stays close to siblings Robert, Maryanne, and Elizabeth. Parents Fred and Mary died in 1999 and 2000. The void never fills, but their example stays with him daily.
“I love my family. They are very much my motivation.” Rich, yes. Blessed, he says, is the better word.
Friends and business legends
Barbara Corcoran built the Corcoran Group, sold it, and keeps winning. She told an interviewer Trump had “singularly the greatest possible influence on Manhattan luxury real estate” because his marketing changed how people saw living in the city. Trump loves praise from pros.
Mohamed Al Fayed gets a sympathetic portrait. Dodie was dating Diana. The Paris crash ended that future. Trump calls Mohamed loyal and misunderstood.
Jack Welch is a favorite. Trump plans to buy his book on day one.
George Steinbrenner gets a full tribute. Trump remembers empty Yankee Stadium. George puts championship teams on the field every year. During Apprentice taping, Trump called George at Yankee Stadium on World Series eve. George said yes immediately. Thirty minutes later the candidates were in his office surrounded by Ruth, DiMaggio, and Mantle photos. NBC was impressed.
Bob Kraft led the Patriots to a second Super Bowl. Trump calls him and Myra unassuming. Tom Brady is the best when the game is on the line.
Jerry Jones and Bob Tisch round out the sports owner section. Tisch has the energy of a man half his age.
Larry Silverstein is a friend, but Trump hates the World Trade Center redesign. Too skeletal. Larry is forced into compromises, Trump says, but will do a good job.
The digs: Dan Rather and Howard Cosell
Dan Rather wanted to profile Trump for 60 Minutes. On tour at Mar-a-Lago and his golf club, Rather could not have been nicer. The aired piece was nasty. They showed a speech to an empty room from a poorly planned event, not the standing-room-only speech from the day before.
Trump calls Rather an enigma with no talent, charisma, or personality. CBS keeps apologizing for his ratings. At Yankee games Trump avoids him.
One exception: Rather called before emceeing a Police Athletic League dinner Trump chaired. Rather felt awkward. Trump said go ahead. Rather did fine. Trump still will not forget 60 Minutes. “People don’t change their stripes.”
Howard Cosell was spectacular at his peak. Trump knew him in his last decade. Howard got nastier with age, even to allies. He thought sportscasting was beneath him and wanted the Senate.
Howard could quote thirty-year-old stats from memory. Then his final book trashed almost everyone, including Roone Arledge and Frank Gifford. Friends turned on him.
Trump told him: knock twenty percent of people, maybe thirty. Not everybody. “You can’t knock everybody.” Trump says he tries to follow that rule in the book and in life.
What stands out
This chapter is warm where Trump wants to be warm and sharp where he wants revenge. Family reads genuine. Sports owners read like a VIP rolodex. Rather and Cosell read like cautionary tales about media and legacy.
It sets up the next chapter perfectly. After name-dropping everyone, Trump shows you what a normal week actually looks like.
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